Police: Man held baby upside down by leg during argument with baby's mother

Police: Man held baby upside down by leg during argument with baby's mother

Police in Monroe County said a Mount Pocono man held his 5-month-old baby upside down by the leg while arguing with the baby's mother.

Keith Cooper, 26, refused to give up the baby as the mother pleaded with him at 4 a.m. Saturday outside her home in the 1900 block of Horseshoe Bend in the Tobyhanna section of Coolbaugh Township, according to Pocono Mountain Regional police. The woman eventually got her baby back and Cooper fled, police said.

Cooper turned himself in to police Monday and was charged with simple assault, theft, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and harassment. He was released on $5,000 unsecured bail.

Police were initially sent to the home on a report of a woman screaming for help. The baby's mother told police she was arguing with Cooper and locked herself in a bedroom. Cooper broke into the bedroom and took the baby as they continued to argue, police said.